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DISTRICT JUDGE CANDIDATES
Chris MacKendrick
- Party: Republican; cross-filed.
- Residence: Lake City
- Personal: Age 50; married with two daughters, 28 and 24.
- Occupation: District judge for western Erie County since 2001; re-elected to a second six-year term in 2007. Formerly Erie County sheriff's deputy (1999-2001) and guard at Erie County Prison (1989-1999).
- Education: Graduate of Girard High School; graduate of Pennsylvania Correctional Academy, Camp Hill; Mercyhurst Municipal Police Academy; Pennsylvania Sheriff's Academy, at the Dickinson Law School, Carlisle. Passed state-mandated training for district judges.
- Running because: "I have the experience. I have been in office two terms. I think that I treat everyone fairly and with respect."

Jeff Gadley
- Party: Republican; cross-filed.
- Residence: Girard Township.
- Personal: Age 46; married with two daughters, 17 and 10.
- Occupation: Elected constable for Girard Township in 2007; re-elected to a full six-year term in 2009. Formerly worked as a self-employed building contractor for 22 years.
- Education: Graduate of Girard High School. Passed state-mandated constable training. Passed state-mandated training for district judges.
- Running because: "I'd like to bring fresh ideas. My knowledge and experience will slide me right into the job."

EAST SPRINGFIELD -- District Judge Chris MacKendrick and Constable Jeff Gadley for years worked with each other as two of the key figures in the district judge's office in western Erie County.

Today they are running against each other for the district judge job.

Before he and MacKendrick campaigned as opponents in the May 21 primary, Gadley served papers and transported defendants in cases that MacKendrick presided over at the district judge's office on Route 215 in Springfield Township, near the Interstate 90 interchange.

When Gadley told MacKendrick about a year ago that he planned to run for the $86,639-a-year district judge post, the two parted ways professionally.

"I have 12 years of experience in," MacKendrick said of one of the reasons he wants to stay in office. "I enjoy what I am doing."

He said he is now using constables from McKean to handle what had been Gadley's work. District judges in Pennsylvania are allowed to choose constables, though constables are elected to serve certain areas, as was Gadley, who was elected in Girard Township.

"I told him everyone has the right to run for elected office," MacKendrick said of Gadley. "I also said every district magistrate has the right to use the constable he wishes to use.

"He said he understood that."

Gadley did not dispute that his work as a constable is at the discretion of the district judge. He has continued to work as a constable for other district judges, earning $73,090 in 2012, according to Erie County records. Constables' earnings are based on how many cases they handle and the fees paid in each case.

Gadley, 46, who previously worked as a self-employed building contractor for 22 years, said he is running for the magistrate's job because his background as a constable has made him qualified and because he wants "to bring fresh ideas" to the role.

"My knowledge and experience will slide me right into the job," Gadley said.

MacKendrick, 50, had worked as a deputy sheriff for two years when he was elected to a six-year term as district judge in 2001. He worked as a guard at the Erie County Prison for 10 years before he became a deputy sheriff.

He said he has shown, in his years as a magistrate, that he has the temperament, work ethic and legal expertise required.

He handled 3,422 cases in 2011, according to the most recent figures from Erie County Court. Of those cases, 289 were criminal, 312 were civil, 696 were for summary offenses and 2,125 were for traffic violations.

MacKendrick and Gadley are registered Republicans who cross-filed on the GOP and Democratic ballots.

District judges don't have to be lawyers but must pass state-mandated training courses, as MacKendrick and Gadley have. District judges handle all traffic cases, other minor criminal cases and civil cases involving amounts up to $12,000.

They also set bond and preside over preliminary hearings in misdemeanor and felony criminal cases to determine if the cases should be dismissed or sent to Erie County Court for further prosecution. District judges may accept guilty pleas in some cases of third-degree misdemeanors.

The magisterial district for western Erie County -- District 06-3-08 -- covers the boroughs of Albion, Cranesville, Girard, Lake City and Platea and the townships of Conneaut, Elk Creek, Girard and Springfield. It is one of 15 such districts in Erie County. A total of 13,129 residents of western Erie County are registered to vote in the race for district judge, according to county records.

MacKendrick, a married father of two adult daughters, lives in Lake City and was re-elected district judge in 2007, with no opposition and a vote total of 2,821, according to county election figures.

Gadley is a married father of two daughters, 17 and 10, and lives in Girard Township, where he is a volunteer firefighter and former chief of A.F. Dobler Hose Co. He was elected to a partial term as constable in 2007 and a full-six year term in 2009, with no opposition and a vote total of 661.

Gadley and MacKendrick agree on many issues, including a pledge to take particular care in handling the cases of juvenile offenders. If elected, Gadley said, he would keep MacKendrick's staff.

Gadley said he wants to expand a diversion program for juvenile offenders, including truants, in western Erie County.

He said he would also set defendants' bonds at levels that he believed would keep the community safe, though he acknowledged that the main reason for bond is to ensure a defendant will show up in court. Gadley said he knew of no cases in which defendants had fled while out on bonds that MacKendrick had set.

Gadley said he would be readily available to the public and the police -- officers often must have a magistrate sign arrest warrants and search warrants after hours.

"I want to be a full-time working judge," Gadley said.

MacKendrick said "he has always been available" as a district judge. And he said he has handled the cases of all defendants, including juvenile offenders, conscientiously.

"I try to be fair to all of them," MacKendrick said of juveniles. "I try to give them the first chance."

Signature dispute

The most public rift in the race for district judge has grown out of a division not between Gadley and MacKendrick, but between Gadley and John Alward, an Elk Creek Township truck driver who had been a candidate for district judge.

Gadley in March went to Erie County Court to challenge the authenticity of some signatures on the nominating petitions of Alward, a Democrat who cross-filed on the Democrat and Republican ballots.

The dispute prompted Alward to withdraw from the race and led District Attorney Jack Daneri to investigate and have a detective in his office charge Alward's wife, Marni Alward, with forgery. She waived her right to a preliminary hearing on April 19, and her case is pending in Erie County Court.

Before he dropped out of the magistrate's race, John Alward questioned how Gadley, because of family relationships, would handle cases involving the Albion and Girard police departments if he were elected magistrate.

Gadley's brother-in-law, Nick VanDamia, is the police chief in Girard, and Gadley's brother, Mark Gadley, is a patrolman for the Albion Police Department and a part-time patrolman in Girard.

Jeff Gadley said in a recent interview that "there are things in place" for dealing with such situations. He said he would disclose his links to the Albion and Girard police departments to the defendants and their lawyers in cases out of Albion and Girard.

He said he would let the defendants seek recusals, and that he "most likely wouldn't hear cases" in which his brother or brother-in-law were the arresting officers. Gadley said he would have another district judge handle them.

Gadley said he would not recuse himself from all cases involving the Girard and Albion police departments, only those that would directly involve his relatives. He said that procedure is line with protocols already in place for district judges and county judges in Erie County.

MacKendrick declined to comment.

Endorsements

MacKendrick and Gadley have received support from community groups.

Gadley got the backing of the Erie County Fraternal Order of Police, William Tyler Memorial Lodge 64. The lodge is for municipal police officers, not state police officers, in Erie County, other than the Erie police, which has its own union.

"Your stance on police issues and public safety are critical to the men and women who serve our lodge and our local communities," Jeremy Ricketts, the recording secretary for the Erie County F.O.P., wrote in a letter April 15.

MacKendrick has received the support of 23 lawyers in Erie County, including such veteran attorneys as David Ridge, Philip Friedman and Elliot Segel.

The 23 lawyers signed an April 23 campaign letter in which they vouch for MacKendrick's "utmost professionalism" and say he "makes himself available and accessibility to anyone," and that "his character is beyond reproach."

"His on-the-job experience and proven record," according to the letter, "give him the necessary tools to accomplish all that is expected of a magisterial district judge."

Online Extras

MORE ON THE BLOG: To read more about politics, campaigns and elections in northwest Pennsylvania, across the state and country, click here.
DISTRICT JUDGE CANDIDATES
Chris MacKendrick
- Party: Republican; cross-filed.
- Residence: Lake City
- Personal: Age 50; married with two daughters, 28 and 24.
- Occupation: District judge for western Erie County since 2001; re-elected to a second six-year term in 2007. Formerly Erie County sheriff's deputy (1999-2001) and guard at Erie County Prison (1989-1999).
- Education: Graduate of Girard High School; graduate of Pennsylvania Correctional Academy, Camp Hill; Mercyhurst Municipal Police Academy; Pennsylvania Sheriff's Academy, at the Dickinson Law School, Carlisle. Passed state-mandated training for district judges.
- Running because: "I have the experience. I have been in office two terms. I think that I treat everyone fairly and with respect."

Jeff Gadley
- Party: Republican; cross-filed.
- Residence: Girard Township.
- Personal: Age 46; married with two daughters, 17 and 10.
- Occupation: Elected constable for Girard Township in 2007; re-elected to a full six-year term in 2009. Formerly worked as a self-employed building contractor for 22 years.
- Education: Graduate of Girard High School. Passed state-mandated constable training. Passed state-mandated training for district judges.
- Running because: "I'd like to bring fresh ideas. My knowledge and experience will slide me right into the job."